Return of Bird of the Week: Masked Crimson Tanager
Masked Crimson Tanager, Ecuador
This species is another of nine members of the genus Ramphocelus, a cousin of last week’s Crimson-backed Tanager. This species is endemic to upper Amazonia and is rarely found far from water, for example. in várzea forest or oxbow lakes. It is usually found in groups, which generally keep reasonably low in the vegetation, and the species as a whole ranges from southeast Colombia south to northernmost Bolivia, and east into central Amazonian Brazil.
The dramatic black mask and wing against the bright red body makes this an easy species to identify in the field. It’s usually found alone, but sometimes forages in mixed-species flocks with another cousin, the Silver-beaked Tanager.
Masked Crimson Tanager feeding in the rain, Ecuador
The species is poorly studied, but among a very small sample its was found to be mostly a fruit and berry eater, as shown here, occasionally supplementing its diet ith insects, possibly only when feeding nestlings.
A worldwide population size for this species has not yet been calculated; however, the population trend overall is described as being stable. Most birding guides describe the Masked Crimson Tanager as “fairly common” relative to other Neotropical birds with a center of abundance in the lower tropical zone.WC has found them to be pretty hard to find and unusually uncooperative to photograph.
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